Many Mom’s Days Out

Hallie had the kids out of the house a bit more than usual this week. Part of this was due to fun activities, and part of this was due to Mike being sick.

Landon has done a lot of word searches in class this year. He made his own Ninjago-themed one to challenge us.

On Monday Hallie got a subdermal injection as part of her preparations for her surgery. The bruising is taking its sweet time to heal, and her arm looks like Grandma Landon’s used to after she would run into something. Thank you Carrie Taylor for babysitting Thing 1 and Thing 2 and taking them to gymnastics so we could get everything taken care of on such a crazy day.

Nice compression bandage, eh? 

Eliza has created a menagerie of animals as part of her class’s zoo theme.

On Tuesday, it was mostly the same old run around with the added fun of having Landon’s friend Tyler over to the house before the boys headed to Lego Club. In the evening our ward’s Relief Society had an activity, and Landon had Scouts. Hallie made Lemon Butter Chicken to take to thee activity and was given a ride by Courtney, who she visit teaches. Our ward is amazing, and we had a great time with all of the sisters celebrating the birthday of Relief Society.

California has amazing weather, but even here it is not always 80 degrees in March. Hallie decided to seize the day and took the kids to the beach on Wednesday. Yes, they ditched a bit of school, but it was a great 2½ hours in the sun for the three of them. After the beach the kids headed to gymnastics and other errands. In the evening while Mike was working, the kids and Hallie met up with some if the leaders from our ward to help with a Young Men and Young Women activity held at the Camarillo Premium Outlets. The activity was called Where’s Waldo? Everyone involved had a lot of fun, and the kids played along perfectly. By the time we got home, all four of us were really tired.

Thursday was girl fun! Hallie and Eliza met up with Hallie’s friend Shirley, and we went for a walk. Hallie has met some great friends in her bariatric class, and she is so grateful for the support during this new venture. After the walk, the three ladies went for a pedicure in Moorpark. Shirley never had a pedicure before, and Hallie made her realize how much she has been missing out. In the evening Hallie attended her second to last Options Class through Kaiser Permanente preparing her for bariatric surgery. 23.5 pounds down, and things are moving in a good direction for Hallie.

The kids went to Carrie’s house while Hallie was in class. By the end of the day, all her activity tuckered Eliza out. She fell asleep while we ran errands on Friday, a rarer thing as she gets older. 

Hallie has joined some great Facebook groups since moving here, and one recently let her in on a great deal for nails. It doesn’t hurt that the salon is at the end of the street where the beach is.  She had her nails done in the morning. In the evening, we sent the kids to Victory Nite and had a little date. Have we told you lately how much we like where we send the kids to gymnastics? If you ever want a referral, Victory Gymnastics Academy is the place to send them. Victory Nite, where the kids play for three hours, eat pizza, and have the time of their lives, is a great benefit. Mike was not feeling very well, so the adults did not party quite like the kids.  

He continued sick with a sore throat and aches for the rest of the weekend, and Hallie and the kids stayed as far away as possible.

Hallie took Landon to the 2016 SoCal State Gymnastics Championships on Saturday. Having a gymnastics meet in Simi Valley was awesome and it was great fun to cheer on Landon’s teammates and to witness what could be for our young one next year.  Landon was a good sport and hung with Hallie while she ran errands and attended a baby shower. Landon wasn’t too disappointed when the guest of honor told him to fill himself up a bag of treats from the baseball-themed shower.

In the early evening, Hallie and the kids walked to the park so Landon could hit a few baseballs around. Eliza found an abandoned shopping cart and had so much fun pushing it around while they were at the park. The evening was spent watching old Scooby Doo episodes, which the kids love!

Sunday brought choir practice in the morning for Hallie before church. Choir meets at the Brown’s house, and the kids love it because there are tons of fun toys and some great dogs for them to play with. We are thankful to all of the Browns and Norgards who keep an eye on them while Mike goes to meetings and Hallie sings. You know, it really does take a village. Today was ward conference. All the meetings were great, and the Spirit was present. The girls took pictures of each other before heading out. 

After church, the kids and Hallie headed to a park for a little hike. Although Eliza forgot her shoes and they had to come back home to retrieve them, the hike proved to be a good thing. The weather was perfect, and Eliza even saw three horses, which made her really happy.

Another week has come and gone, and we are so grateful to all of those who make each and every week fun, crazy, and enjoyable.